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E-commerce Coupang’s Q1 revenue up; quarterly dip signals rising competition

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, extended its year-on-year sales growth with an 11.1% increase to post $7.9 billion in...

Woori Financial wins approval for Tongyang, ABL Life acquisition

Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, has received conditional approval from the country&rsquo...

Business & Politics Trump Jr. meets Korean business chiefs in back-to-back sessions

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of US President Donald Trump, spent his one-and-a-half-day visit to South Korea in back-to-back private meetings wi...

Earnings Shinhan Financial’s overseas business blooms, on track for record earnings

Shinhan Financial Group Co., South Korea’s leading financial holding company, is poised to surpass 1 trillion won ($692 million) in annual net...

Mergers & Acquisitions LG Chem to sell water filter business to Glenwood PE for $692 million

South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd. has agreed to sell its water filter business – the world’s second-largest producer of reverse osmosis m...

Mergers & Acquisitions Kyobo Life poised to buy Japan’s SBI Group-owned savings bank

Kyobo Life Insurance Co. is in the final stages of negotiation with Japanese financial group SBI Holdings Inc. to buy about a 50% stake in SBI Savin...

Business & Politics Trump Jr. to visit Seoul next week to meet Korean business leaders

Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the US President Donald Trump, is set to visit Seoul next week and meet with Korean business leaders grappling w...

Corporate strategy Samsung seeks tech alliance with top US universities for robotics, AI, 6G

In an ambitious bid to shape the future of technology, Samsung Electronics Co. is launching a sweeping initiative to collaborate with elite North Am...

Mergers & Acquisitions LG Chem’s medical skincare business sale draws tepid bid

South Korean chemical giant LG Chem Ltd.'s offer for sale of its cosmetics filler business, tagged with an asking price of more than 500 billion won...

Corporate strategy Dongwon Industries to delist wholly owned Dongwon F&B

Dongwon Industries Co., the holding company of South Korea’s seafood-to-logistics Dongwon Group, will delist its canned tuna-manufacturing sub...

Real estate Colliers to lead $689 million sale of IGIS Asset-owned Signature Tower

Colliers Korea, a unit of global real estate asset management group Colliers, has been chosen as the adviser for the sale of Signature Tower in cent...

Robotics Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics’ Spot embarks on public safety missions

Spot, a quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics Inc., will aid defense and safety agencies in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia to assist in...

Mergers & Acquisitions SK Group in talks with Hahn & Co. to sell SK Siltron

SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, is in talks with Hahn & Co., a South Korean buyout firm, to sell SK Siltron Co., the country’s s...

Mergers & Acquisitions IMM consortium owns 100% of Hyundai LNG Shipping; Stake sale eyed

A consortium of IMM Private Equity Inc. and IMM Investment Corp. has secured full ownership of Hyundai LNG Shipping, South Korea’s top liquefi...

Electronics LG’s global HVAC push takes off with new deal in Singapore

LG Electronics Inc. has landed a deal to supply its heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to a fulfillment center in Singapore, a...

Korean games Netmarble gets tailwind from new titles, BTS comeback

Netmarble Corp., a leading South Korean gaming company, expects to gain new growth momentum from the launch of nine new titles and the anticipated f...

Entertainment SM Entertainment acquires additional 11.4% stake in DearU for $9.2 mn

SM Entertainment Co., South Korea’s music powerhouse behind internationally popular boy and girl bands like EXO and aespa, has acquired an add...

Business & Politics Samsung's Lee meets with Xi amid Beijing’s balancing act vs Washington

Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong, along with other global tech leaders, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday as C...

Travel & Leisure SoftBank-backed Yanolja raises stake in Modetour as No. 2 shareholder

South Korea’s top travel and accommodation booking platform operator Yanolja Co. has increased its stake in travel agency Modetour Network Inc...

Business & Politics US Chamber of Commerce sees Korea’s business penalties as trade barrier

The US Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest lobbying group, told Washington that South Korea’s penalties on businesspeople are amo...

Leadership & Management Samsung in 'do or die' situation'; Lee sounds crisis alarm

Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong has warned the company's executives that the South Korean tech giant has lost its characteristic "rele...

Korean chipmakers Magnachip to sell display business in H1 to focus on power semiconductors

South Korean chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor Corp. plans to sell its display business by the end of the first half as part of a strategic shift to...

Hydrogen economy Samsung E&A buys Norwegian Nel stake for hydrogen business push

South Korea’s Samsung E&A Co. has purchased a stake in Norway’s hydrogen technology company Nel ASA at 47.6 billion won ($32.8 milli...

Webtoons Naver’s Webtoon hints at ad business expansion in 2025

Webtoon Entertainment Inc., the Nasdaq-listed storytelling platform operator under South Korea’s internet giant Naver Corp., is set to expand ...

Mergers & Acquisitions MBK Partners poised to acquire CJ Cheiljedang’s $3.5 billion bio business

North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners is on the verge of clinching a major acquisition deal by offering a higher bid than other conten...

Korean chipmakers Samsung’s system chip, foundry business under close scrutiny for overhaul

Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, has put its system chip and foundry businesses under tight scrutiny for a possi...

Private equity MBK-owned Homeplus files for corporate revamp with Seoul court

South Korea’s leading hypermarket operator Homeplus Co., wholly owned by North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners, on Tuesday filed...

Earnings Coupang posts profit for 2 straight years in 2024 on new growth drivers

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s answer to global e-commerce giant Amazon.com, ended last year with profit for the second straight year thanks to t...

Cryptocurrencies Dunamu slapped with 3-month business suspension order

Dunamu Inc., the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has been hit with a three-month partial business suspension ...

Energy SK Innovation E&S to secure 10 mn tons of LNG to compete with BP, Shell

SK Innovation E&S (SKI E&S), the natural gas business unit of South Korea’s SK Innovation Co., is set to begin an LNG trading business...